The Revenge of Devil | Irondad, pepperony

Chapter 62

"Time is running out, Peter," Teresa reminded him again, glaring at her brother. "Death is near here. Death is me. I will decide when your parents will sail to the other shore. You wouldn't find a more patient person than is me. Do you know how many times I have devotedly waited for my mother and naively thought she would return?" she laughed coldly, resentment dripping from her voice as if it were poison. "Do you know how long I had to wait for this opportunity? A long time. But I will not be patient forever. Your last words?" She turned now to Pepper and Tony, who were clutching each other and still hoping for a miracle. The only thing that made Pepper peace of mind was that she wouldn't hurt Peter.

No one spoke, neither the talkative Tony, nor the brave Peter, nor Pepper tried to change anything with a kind word and try to change the cards of destiny. Teresa snorted. "Really? I waited for lamentations and heartbreaking promises. Maybe after all you can still surprise me. Well, Peter, your chances are coming to an end. When I pull the trigger, it'll be too late to fix anything. Did you really think about it? I'm giving you an option I didn't get, and you're not even trying to take advantage of it? Or are you so overly empathetic and want to experience what I've been experiencing?" She smiled coldly. "Our mother was a bitch, but that didn't mean I didn't want to say goodbye to her."

"Would you keep a bit of the little girl who loved the people she had around you?" Peter asked quietly.

Her eyes flashed as she hissed, "This is not the point. So what? Tell me how it feels, honey. How does it feel to stand here and know that you will lose your loved ones, the best you have ever met? I told you I wouldn't kill you, and I will not. It took me many years to realize that I didn't really want to kill you. But I was so angry with you that I wanted to back then. Do you think that I jumped to the ceiling with joy from this development of events? You took my father, you took my mother. Do you know what it's like for a little girl? I longed for a little recognition, a little love. But he showed up," she growled in hatred, pointing her gun at Tony, "It would be better if he hasn't shown up and then you wouldn't be born either."

"Do you really want to cling to something like that, something that can't be changed, and what's the big deal if it is?" Peter interrupted. "This is pettiness—"

"Really?" She said softly. "Are you saying it's pettiness? So you won't mind if I shoot Pepper and Anthony here if I take them from you? Because you did the same to me."

"You say yourself that Mary was a bitch, a raven mother! Do you think that if she didn't meet my dad, or if I wasn't born, something would change? She was simply that way!" Peter shouted, his words hurting her. "You just want a reason—"

"I have a lot of reasons, believe me," she snapped. "But well, you can't do so for your birth. Which unleashed everything. Not only the disruption of my dysfunctional family but also the worldwide boom with superheroes that resulted in the emergence of the Avengers. What would you do, where would you be if you had no one to fight against, huh?"

"Do you think we should thank you and others like you for sowing evil and hurting people?" Tony growled, unable to remain silent.

She laughed. "Nice last words. All right, Peter, that's enough. I stop having fun, so let's get started. Let's start with Tony, what do you say?" she muttered as if they hadn't talked about death at all. She aimed the pistol at his head, but then seemed to change her mind. "Or maybe Mrs. Stark? It will be a greater punishment for you if you have to watch your wife's death."

"At Odin, will the woman ever shut up?" she was interrupted suddenly by a strange, bored male voice that stretched every word. "Before she decides to do anything, I'll grow old here." Peter didn't even have to turn around to realize it was Loki. At first, relief began to pour down all over his body, warming his shock-frozen body like a hot shower, but then a new dose of fear replaced him. He should have come alone. What will Teresa do now?

Of course, they came. Natasha in front with a carefully aimed pistol, Steve with his shield, Bruce and Bucky, Sam in his Falcon suit. Loki appeared behind Pepper and Tony, wearing his typical Asgard clothes and a horned helmet, and one eyebrow raised.

"I think we're going to have to stop your carefully rehearsed speech here," Natasha told her calmly. "Put the gun down before you hurt anyone, and let's work it out."

She laughed out loud. "So that's how you hold deals, brother? I thought you were honest with me, and instead, you're bringing the whole Avengers team here. That's not what I thought of you."

"Peter has nothing to do with it," Natasha snapped. "He ran away from us, but we tracked him down. You must have known we'd find you when you didn't even cover your tracks. Put the gun down," she repeated, but Teresa just smiled.

"Let's work it out for good, you say?" She pretended to think. "And since when do you do something in peace and not by force? You're Black Widow," she grinned. She thought how she is going to hurt her with her words when she reminds everyone here that Natasha is actually a killer. "When I look at your team like that, it's quite funny. You say I'm a monster - but have you ever looked in a mirror? Black Widow and Winter Soldier - one of the biggest killers in the world, especially dear Barnes, left a lot of bloody traces," she chuckled and began to count on her fingers. Steve took a loud breath when he heard her talk about Bucky like that, but his best friend just stopped him with a raised arm. Her words don't have much to hurt him. But if it was someone close...

"The Hulk," she pointed at Dr. Banner, "another mutant, a disgusting monster destroying everything around him. Loki Laufeyson, isn't he a descendant of the Freezing Giants, the mad killers somewhere in space? I don't know you," she pointed at Falcon and wrinkled her nose, "and all we have left is Captain America, goodness and nobility alone. And of course Tony Stark, whose weapons have killed thousands of people... So, did I forget someone?" she asked cheerfully, her eyes gleaming with hatred. "See what kind of people you surround yourself with, Peter? Most of them are murderers, monsters... Do you live with them under one roof, even though you know how much blood they have on your hands, and you weren't willing to leave with me? Shakespeare was seriously right in this statement: hell is empty, devils are among us. And look. The devils are really here," she chuckled.

"You don't know their story," Peter said quietly. "You don't know what they've had to go through in life. Actually, you have a similar fate to them. Yes, maybe they were killers and didn't do good... but they could change, you know? They were able to resist, fight, and become better people. And you can too, can't you see it? Why are you resisting?"

"I do not resist. On the contrary. I'm going to the opposite," she replied calmly, smiling. "Mercy is just another term for weakness, Peter. And I'm not going to have mercy."

And then she did something none of them expected.

She found Bruce Banner in the Avengers crowd. She aimed the pistol at his chest.

And she pulled the trigger.

Time seemed to slow down. Bucky was the first to react, perhaps because he was closest to Bruce. His pupils dilated, but he pursed his lips, grabbed Bruce by the arm, and pulled him aside.

Bucky Barnes stood in the way instead of Bruce, taking the bullet that was supposed to belong to him.

•••

No Way Home broke me😭